More Monkey business

The Doctor will see you now. Or rather, you can see the Doctor – Robert that is – along with the rest of the Blow Monkeys. TONY DEWHURST talks to the stylish singer on the eve of the band’s Lancashire date

Dr Robert recalled: “I was doing an archaeological dig of my own into roots music.

I’d put an acoustic guitar in the boot, then off I’d go

“It was why The Blow Monkeys stopped at that point, in terms of being a band on a major label.

“I needed to get back there, to see the white of the audiences’ eyes again.

“But I didn’t find that hard because I was always a fan of the spirit of early rock and roll.

“I’d put an acoustic guitar in the boot, then off I’d go.

“Fifty quid here, seventy-five quid there, a bar or a club.

“I enjoyed it – it sharpened the senses and I felt alive again.

“I needed to do that because there was an image of me from the 80s, of me being the pretty boy front man, which didn’t do me any favours.”

The Blow Monkeys sound was a dash of jazz, pop, soul and funk, and dressed in well-cut threads and a breakthrough song – Digging Your Scene – they built a successful commercial career at the height of the 80s pop boom.

“Fame as a celebrated musician means zilch and I was never very good at being Mr Showbiz,” he said.